Nicholls freshman starts bass fishing team

Teddy RenoisStaff Writer

Monday

Oct 28, 2013 at 10:49 AM

Tyler Rivet loves bass fishing so much that he decided to start a bass-fishing team at Nicholls State University.

Tyler Rivet loves bass fishing so much that he decided to start a bass-fishing team at Nicholls State University.Before Rivet made Nicholls his choice to further his education, he was hoping to go to LSU or Louisiana-Monroe, and his reason had nothing to do with academics.LSU and ULM both had bass fishing teams, and after watching the sport televised for several years, Rivet yearned to attend a school that competed in the sport. Once Rivet realized he was going to attend Nicholls, he almost immediately began devising a plan to bring bass fishing to the university.Thanks to a family friend, Alyson Theriot, who is an assistant professor in the Nicholls College of Education, Rivet secured a faculty sponsor, received approval from the school and the Nicholls’ bass fishing team was born in September.Rivet, a 19-year-old freshman from Raceland, said the experience in getting this team off the ground was eye-opening, but he is thrilled to have an opportunity to compete in a sport he loves.“My phone wouldn’t stop ringing for a long time once people found out what I was trying to do,” Rivet said. “Going through this, I realized how certain things work and that should help me later in life. My family is proud of me because it is something that I wanted to do. I used to watch collegiate bass fishing on television and I wanted to do that one day. I knew that other colleges were doing it, and I wanted to go to LSU or ULM because of the bass fishing teams. I came to Nicholls because it was better financially, but I saw there wasn’t a bass-fishing team and I really wanted to do it.”Bass fishing is not sanctioned by the NCAA, but FLW Outdoors and BoatUS hold tournaments for collegiate teams with prize money and opportunities to qualify for bigger tournaments throughout the year.The teams are made up of two people per boat, and Rivet said he and Cameron Naquin, a freshman from Gray, competed in their first tournament in September.Rivet and Naquin fished in the FLW Outdoors College Fishing Southern Conference Tournament in Lake Hamilton near Hot Springs, Ark. They finished 27th of 50 teams with a fish that weighed 1-pound, 12-ounces. The pair also attended the Texas Collegiate Tournament Trail sponsored by BoatUS and Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing series Saturday at Toledo Bend. Rivet said the collegiate tournament allows just two teams per school, and with more students interested in joining, the team will hold its own tournaments to determine who will represent the school in regional tournaments.“We are still determining how many people can be in because in most tournaments, you can only have two teams. That is only four people, but what we might do is have our people fish in a tournament over here to qualify for those tournaments,” Rivet said. “We are looking for more people with bass boats. We only have two of us with boats, but FLW Outdoors supplies boats for the first 30 people that sign up. But not every tournament is like that.”Finding potential teammates with bass boats might not be as difficult as Rivet first imagined, as the bass fishing team is quickly picking up steam within the student body on campus.Theriot said she has been bombarded with messages and believes the bass-fishing team will eventually become a recruiting tool at Nicholls.“Part of the reason I decided to help is I have a son who is a senior on E.D. White’s team, and he had no interest in coming to Nicholls because we had no bass-fishing team,” she said. “I figured if I could help get this sport going, then he would be interested in Nicholls. It was personal and selfish my reason for doing it, but I’m glad I did it. We do need to get better-organized, and that is an issue in getting off the ground. We need to talk about what direction we want to go in. It’s been overwhelming, but in the future, I think this could be a recruiting tool for Nicholls.”Rivet, who is a petroleum engineer major, plans on staying at Nicholls for two years before finishing his degree at another university that has a bass-fishing team. Even though he will finish his four-year degree at another university, Rivet knows he has created something that should remain part of the university’s fabric for years to come.“It will get bigger. I know I have friends at LSU, and they said the team has never slowed down. It is just getting bigger and bigger,” Rivet said. “I talked with friends in this area, and they weren’t coming to Nicholls because we didn’t have a team. Now they want to come here, and thanked me for starting the team. It is just something I love to do and something I wanted to do.”Rivet said the bass fishing team is not paid for by Nicholls.Anyone interested in sponsoring or joining the team can call 855-7651.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.